Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
Back in 2017, me and GMK (the manufacturer) began to tinker with the idea of making translucent keycaps that could mimic cyberpunk aesthetics. After lots of experimentation we decided to avoid shine through legends because that wasn't the design concept we wanted to implement. So we did the opposite, a translucent shell with a solid first component (legends).
In order to explain the design choices that were made and why we were doing what we did, I've made a post in my website that day (https://mitormk.com/2017/12/22/lets-make-things-clear/) and even linked it here, prior to the drop, together with the actual pictures of the product so everyone could see the grids and shells during the preorder phase. Information was clearly available for everyone signing up for the drop.
I will quote myself so you can hopefully understand the execution and the design concept that was implemented.
"When I think about futuristic dystopias and retrowave, the first thing that comes to mind is the aesthetics. Neons and mist in dark alleys, dashboards and screens computing lines of code. Vibrant colors and scraped shapes and materials that, when assembled together, become an object with unclear balance between its form and function."
"(...) me and GMK began experimenting, testing and prototyping with colors, materials and unorthodox techniques in order to create together something truly unique for the keycap set."
"Our goal was to develop a product that would resemble manufacturing standpoints from a cyberpunk future. We wanted to celebrate the idea of not caring too much about the outside, so long the inside is functional."
So, with that said, I'd like to address to a "FAQ" that has been somewhat recurrent too:
> My keycaps are damaged, the grids are...
The keycaps aren't damaged in any form, they didn't sustain any type of harsh conditions at any point. They are made of the highest ABS material that exists for keycaps and their condition is pristine. The legends look sharp, the translucent shell is clean and the internal grid is completely messed up, on purpose. For plastic to be injected, in this case it has to be melted and then it cools down afterwards. The grid patterns you see are results of this imprecise process. All keycaps are like that, you just can't see it. Or couldn't see it, until I decided to make this concept and show to you guys what it looks like.
> The grids on the renders are...
Virtual representations of a structural grid, because it's a computer generated image it doesn't go through heat, therefore it doesn't melts and it looks perfect. The renders were done to show what keycaps were included in each kit, not what the actual final product would look like. For that, we showed the photos.
> My W keycap is messed up!
Your W keycap isn't messed up, it's particular grid is result of it being a R2 keycap. Which is a taller keycap than ASD (R3), so it needs more resin so the shell can be completely filled up and not hollow. This is why you see a little blob on the top right corner. All R2 keycaps grid look like W's grid. There are hundreds of different grids available for injection molding. The ones you see are the optimal ones for the respective rows and legend sizes.
> My keycaps aren't pink/purple!
The keycaps are indeed pink and purple but translucent ABS plastic has limitations when it comes to light diffusion. If you inject a purple legend with a pink shell, the keycap will look completely dark.
I really appreciate everyone for the support and enthusiasm. But I have to ask you guys, please pay attention to the drops when you join them. Read the descriptions, carefully observe the images, ask questions. I'm here to help and clarify your doubts, so you'll always know what to expect. Some people bought these keycaps without even knowing what profile they were...
This right here is an extremely exclusive and peculiar project and we tried our best to present the vision to you guys and deliver it. Fortunately lots of people understood the idea, but a portion have not and it's now claiming this is a damaged product while it really isn't.
All things said, thank you very much for the feedback provided and you can be sure drop descriptions will be even clearer moving forward. Thanks for supporting, in one way or another, the Laserwave project!
https://i.imgur.com/vSkfEbg.jpg